


New Friends

by storiesfortravellers



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Bromance, Community: trope_bingo, Episode Tag, Gen, M/M, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-02
Updated: 2013-03-02
Packaged: 2017-12-04 01:34:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/704964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storiesfortravellers/pseuds/storiesfortravellers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>MAJOR SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 1.16. Do not read summary if not spoilered.</p><p> </p><p>Episode Tag to 1.16. Tommy and Oliver talk about why Oliver didn't share his secret life. </p><p>Could be read as friendship or slash/pre-slash.</p>
            </blockquote>





	New Friends

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Друзья заново](https://archiveofourown.org/works/757431) by [Heidel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heidel/pseuds/Heidel)



“So.” Oliver looked at him, perfectly stoic, except for the eyes. Tommy was always good at noticing Oliver’s eyes.

It was the first time they were alone since the night Tommy saw Oliver take off his hood. They had drunk excellent whiskey, then bad whiskey, then a swift decision to return to the excellent whiskey. Finally, their silence became heavier than their speech, and Oliver spoke first:

"So."

It was as much of an opening as Tommy was going to get. “Thank you. Again. Really, Oliver.” Tommy leaned back on the couch of their office at the club, moving just slightly toward Oliver, who was seated next to him.

“I’m glad your father is okay…. But I know you have questions,” Oliver said.

Tommy looked down for a moment. “Yeah.... Why didn’t you tell me?”

Oliver stiffened. “I just – there was no way knowing could make your life better.” He stared at Tommy, and there was a plea there: _Please let that be explanation enough. Please move on._

Tommy couldn’t. “It doesn’t matter if I know what my best friend is doing? That he’s always in danger? That he’s trying to – what exactly?”

Oliver set his jaw. “There are things my father told me. Before… you know. This city is corrupt, top to bottom. And my family’s part of the reason why.”

Tommy stared at him. “Okay,” he said.

“Okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.” 

“What you saw – when I killed those guys – I… don’t do that anymore. I mean, I do. In self-defense. Or to save lives. But not… not like that.”

Tommy seemed to relax a little. “You had just come back from the island.”

Oliver looked away.

Tommy said, softly, “You still feel like you just got off the island.”

Oliver shook his head. “I’m not talking about the island.”

Tommy paused. “Yet?”

“Sure,” Oliver muttered.

Tommy sighed. “You know I’ll keep your secret.”

Oliver’s forehead creased. “Of course I know that. I didn’t keep it from you because of that.” He shifted to a sly smile that didn’t quite hide the sadness, and continued, “And let’s be honest, this is definitely not the most embarrassing secret you’ve kept for me.”

Tommy laughed. He almost gave Oliver a light smack on the chest, the way he used to, before he saw Oliver tense and moved his hand back. 

“Why then?” Tommy asked finally, “You didn’t want to tell me?”

“I … when I came back….” Oliver’s face went from stoic to anguished, just a tiny slide of muscle and bone. “I came back… twisted. Tommy, I came back…. You didn’t need to see that, Tommy. You didn’t need the danger and you didn’t need….” Oliver exhaled and looked away again.

“Oliver, I--”

“Don’t tell me that you want to help!” Oliver snapped, and immediately looked guilty.

Tommy tilted his head and answered calmly. “Everyone you know tells you that almost every day. I’ve obviously decided not to add to the chorus.” 

Oliver gave a wan smile. “Sorry. It’s just… I know that what I’ve… become – I know it’s… messed up. I know it. But it’s the only thing that is letting me clean up this city. I don’t want to be fixed. And the idea that I could be, even if I wanted.,. it’s so stupid it makes me want to throw up. Tommy, I’m not the guy who left. I’m not the guy you grew up with. I’m sorry. But that guy… he’s not coming back.” Oliver looked at him, jaw set against argument, against the expectation of denial and reassurance.

Instead, Tommy snorted. “No shit.”

Oliver raised an eyebrow.

“Of course you’re not the same person,” Tommy continued, “Back in the day, I knew you better than anyone. You really thought that I was imagining you just needed a little more therapy and hugs and then you’d be the same old Oliver?”

Oliver shrugged. It seemed to be the consensus.

Tommy reached out, ignored the hint of flinch, and held tightly to Oliver’s shoulder. “I know you’re not the same man. I don’t need you to be. But the man who came back? The one with the mad martial arts skills and the mission? The one with the hood and the bow and the five years in hell and the completely understandable anger issues? I need to know him. I need to hang out with him. I need to talk to him, I need to learn everything about him just like I did with the old Oliver. I need to learn how to be the friend of the man who came back.”

Oliver stared at him and swallowed.

“Do you understand me?” Tommy pressed, hand still squeezing Oliver’s shoulder. “I _need_ this from you.”

Oliver let out a breath, almost a smile. He had forgotten how pushy Tommy could be, how utterly convincing.

“Yeah, I get it,” Oliver said. He hesitated and then leaned in to hug Tommy, a manly pat on his back. It was stiff and awkward, like every hug he’d had to give since returning, but it wasn’t insincere.

Tommy pulled back with a grin. “Okay, here’s the deal. You have your secrets. I won’t ask to know everything tonight. But you don’t keep me cordoned off in the nice, neat totally bullshit part of your life. Okay?”

“Sure,” Oliver said, the exact midpoint between a grimace and a smile. “You’re pretty bossy for someone who just barged into a criminal’s lair.”

“This is a club, not a lair,” Tommy pointed out.

Oliver raised an eyebrow. 

“Really?”

Oliver shrugged. “I’ll show you some other time, okay?” 

Tommy frowned. But then he nodded. “Sure. So… are you working tonight or can I give you a ride home in my cab?”

“Working.”

“Got it,” Tommy said, deliberately not asking everything he wanted to ask. “So… should I leave you to your…”

“Extracurricular activities?” Oliver suggested with a smile. 

“Yeah,” Tommy said wryly.

“Actually… I was thinking that maybe I have time to go out for tacos.”

Tommy smiled, grateful. “Let’s go, hood.”

“Don’t call me that,” Oliver said as they got up to leave.

“Robin Hood?” 

“No.”

“Maid Marian?”

“Creative, but no.”

“Jolly Green Giant?”

“I’m never telling you anything again.”

“Sure you will,” Tommy said with a wink as they exited the club. Oliver just shook his head and laughed.

**Author's Note:**

> Also for trope bingo, for the wild card square, for the trope "in vino veritas."


End file.
